Our_Bulletin_6_20

Family News and Notes

Congratulations Visitation Team No. 2 !! You will be rewarded with a dinner hosted by Teams 1, 3 & 4 for having made the most visits in our Spring Quarter. The dinner will be served at 7:00 PM in the Multi-purpose Room the evening of June 26. All teams will enjoy the meal, which will be prepared by Teams 1, 3 & 4. Team 1 will furnish meats, Team 3 will furnish desserts and Team 4 will furnish salads and veggies. Team leaders will contact their members regarding particular needs. We will be looking forward to the fellowship following the meal.

We need Volunteers to help clean the building for the month of July. If you are willing and able to help with this good use of your talents please sign the sheet on the table in the foyer.

J. A. "Buck" Gearhart of Oklahoma City, passed away at 4:00 PM June 16, 2004. Funeral arrangements Hahn-Cook / Street & Draper Funeral Home at 6006 N Grand Blvd. Arrangements were not to be made until Friday morning at the printing of this bulletin. He was an elder at the old North Jefferson congregation many years ago.

Ola Mae Simpson entered Longview Regional Medical Center last week for an Upper GI. An ulcer was found and she is being treated for this. She is in room 226.

Elna O'Neal is in Baylor hospital in Dallas. She had entered for a catherization and the doctor determined she needed open-heart surgery Thursday and would not dismiss her. At the writing of this bulletin on Thursday afternoon she was scheduled for surgery on Thursday afternoon.

Bud Roach was still in the hospital in Paris undergoing therapy following his recent knee surgery, but was scheduled to return home on Saturday.

Annah Brown is in the local hospital, Room 517, and is in therapy.

Winnie Patton is still in the local hospital, Room 407, .

Aresser Thursby was admitted to TRMC Thursday and she was in critical condition at the writing of this bulletin.

Pat McCracken (mother of Tracie McCracken) is in the hospital in Las Vegas.

THANK YOU "We wish to thank this wonderful congregation for all the cards, phone calls, and visits for our 69th Wedding Anniversary. Continue to pray for us.

--We love you all

Louis and Nona Bell"

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PRAYER LIST:

Justin Barker, Louis Bell, Winell Blackard, Annah Brown,

Sue Browning, Josephine Cooper, Perry Cooper, Laci Farmer, Howard Horton, Elna O'Neal, Winnie Patton, Bud Roach, Dorothy Sargent, Ola Mae Simpson

ALSO: Robin Embree, Kelsey Meyers, Meghan Rios, Aresser Thursby, Virginia Ward

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Rhodney's "Funny Bone"

Have you ever really watched Superman? The villains each shoot six bullets that bounce off his chest while he just stands there. Then they throw their guns at him, and he ducks.

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In Loving Memory Of

Brother Jamie J. Duncan

Faithful Servant of Christ &

Valiant Soldier of the Cross

October 22, 1917 June 13, 2004

"Know ye not, that there is a prince and a great man fallen this day in Israel" (II Sam. 3:38).

The joy of the Lord's Day was blighted for the citizens of Mt. Pleasant last Sunday afternoon, when word began to spread through town that brother Jamie Duncan had breathed his last, and had gone home to be with his Lord. Mixed emotions were felt by his brethren, as we rejoiced at the spiritual victory he had won, but lamented the great void his passing has left in our hearts and souls. Even though we "sorrow not as those who have no hope" (I Thess. 4:13), because of our hope in Christ and Jamie's faithful relationship with his Savior, nevertheless I'm sure many brethren in Titus County openly wept when they heard the news, because of the personal loss they felt at the passing of this spiritual giant among men.

Due to my relatively recent arrival in Mt. Pleasant, I was never privileged to hear Jamie preach the unsearchable riches of Jesus Christ. However, his reputation of good works and faithful service for the Lord and in behalf of others, both in and out of the pulpit, both preceded and follows him, and thus it didn't take me long to figure out that Jamie was a "prince" among men and truly a "great man" in spiritual Israel. In fact, the first Scripture that came to my mind last Sunday afternoon when I heard the news of Jamie's passing is the verse at the top of this page - II Samuel 3:38. As you know, the context of that verse is that another David, Israel's King David, had just received news of the death of Abner, the commander of King Saul's army. David lamented Abner's passing with a most complimentary refrain of sorrow and respect, "Know ye not that there is a prince and a great man fallen this day in Israel." I am quite sure all of us have similar feelings about the death of our beloved brother in Christ, Jamie J. Duncan. A faithful servant of Christ, a valiant soldier of the cross, a loving husband and father, a beloved friend and neighbor, truly a prince and a great man has fallen in Mt. Pleasant, and we will miss him greatly.

I was privileged to be with Jamie and Betty in the ICU of the local hospital just an hour before he drew his last breath. Even though his breathing was labored and his body was wracked with pain from the heart attack he suffered on Saturday, he still managed to smile at me with that wonderful sweet smile he was famous for, even as he patted my hand in gratitude for the prayer I had just offered in his behalf. As always, his faithful wife Betty was standing by his side and holding his other hand.

What do you pray for at a time like that? I asked God to grant Jamie a peaceful moment to cross the chilly waters of the Jordan of death, and humbly asked that God and Christ would be there waiting on the other side to gladly welcome Jamie home to his reward for years of faithful service in the kingdom. I believe that request was granted and that Jamie has gone home to be with the Lord where he will remain "safe in the arms of Jesus" until that great and final Day of Judgment, when he will be able along with all the faithful saints to hear the Lord say, "Well done, good and faithful servant, enter into the joys of thy Lord."

At the beautiful funeral that Weldon Miller conducted Wednesday afternoon, and in the well-written article that graced the front page of the Daily Tribune, as the lead article of the Tuesday afternoon edition, it was noted that Jamie was respected, revered, and adored not only by members of the Lord's church in Titus County, but also by many others outside the church, whose lives he had touched by his loving manner and kind deeds of service to all who were in need. So loved was he by the citizens of our community, both in and out of the Lord's church, that in 1983, Jamie was named "Citizen of the Year," by the Mt. Pleasant/Titus County Chamber of Commerce. What a tribute to a man who let the light of Jesus be seen in his life and who obviously, like Jesus, "went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him" (Acts 10:38). Though Jamie possessed no miraculous power, he nevertheless spent his life doing good and healing those oppressed by Satan by sharing the good news of Christ with them, which could heal their sin-sick souls when obeyed.

Rarely a day goes by that I don't meet someone, who, when they find out I am one of the preachers at North Jefferson, begins to reminisce about some fond memory they have of Jamie's influence in their lives. In this way, as the Bible predicts, "Blessed are the dead, which die in the Lord, that they may rest from their labors, and their works do follow them" (Rev. 14:13). Yes, Jamie's work follows him as a lovely legacy of what it means to be a faithful servant of God. Indeed, his influence lives on in the lives of those he touched, even as it continues to bring glory and honor to God.

Jamie Duncan has left big shoes for David McCain and Lee Moses to fill. In fact, I am not sure even both of us working together can do half the job Jamie did in upholding the light which is Christ among both saint and sinner alike in the Mt. Pleasant area. Nevertheless, his example inspires us to aspire to be like him, and to strive to do more for the cause of Christ, so that the name of God will be glorified, even as the good works Jamie did continue to glorify the name of our great God.

In a short excerpt from the pen the great statesman, Benjamin Franklin, we take our parting comfort and hope. At the passing of his brother, John Franklin, Benjamin Franklin penned the following words of comfort to John's step-daughter, which I believe well fits our feelings about Jamie. Franklin wrote, "Our friend and we were invited abroad on a party of pleasure, which is to last forever. His chair was ready first, and he is gone before us. We could not all conveniently start together, and why should you and I be grieved at this, since we are soon to follow and know where to find him." David McCain

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The Parade Continues

By Lee Moses

The New York Daily News featured the headline on May 26, "MTV to Launch Nations First Gay Network." Yes, you heard correctlyall homosexual programming, all the time; from the people that brought us the Super Bowl halftime show. An Associated Press article stated, "Viacom [the parent company of MTV, CBS, Nickelodeon, et al.; LM] had been discussing a gay cable network since at least 1994, but put it on the back burner because of a weak economy and other priorities. Now, an improved economic outlet has pushed the plans forward." This channel will be offered as a basic cable servicewhat this means is you don't have to ask for it to get it. Tom Freston, MTV Networks chairman and CEO, has expressed doubt that there would be any notable opposition to his homosexual network, observing, "There's been no resistance from advertisers so far." The New York Daily News article stated, "Advertisers like online travel agency Orbitz, which aggressively targets gay customers and was one of the early advertisers on the Bravo hit 'Queer Eye,' have already signed on."

Homosexuality is no longer in the closet. San Francisco has been known for its "Gay Pride Parade," where homosexuals are encouraged to flaunt their "alternate lifestyle," as well as their disregard for the God of earth and heaven, before as many human eyes as possible. We are now in the midst of a "Gay Pride Parade" taking place across the entire country. This homosexual cable TV network is but the latest event in a continual agenda designed to force homosexuality before the eyes of the public. Another marcher in the parade has been an influx of public schools teaching that homosexuality is an equally acceptable alternative to marriage. Nowhere is the nationwide march of homosexuality seen more clearly than in the recent push for "gay marriage" (which can truly be neither "gay" nor "marriage"). As noted in an article in the February 22 bulletin, "The cry for homosexual 'marriage' is not a push for equal rights homosexuals have exactly the same rights as every other United States citizen. But by overthrowing the standards of society, they can assert their dominance over society." The homosexual community is not satisfied with a parade that those who choose to attend can view; their desire is for a parade that everybody is forced to watch.

But the homosexual subculture does not have a monopoly on input as to whether the parade continues. No one has to view television shows promoting the homosexual agenda, although they are many. We can inform the networks that provide such programming, as well as the advertisers who fund them, of our disapproval. No one has to sit quietly by as judges create legislation (a task for which another branch of government was designed) which thumbs its nose at God's law and which redefines God's institutions. We can write our Congressmen who refuse to take a stand against homosexual marriages and licensed civil unions. As God's children, Christians are to make themselves distinct from ungodliness, including that of the homosexual agenda. Remember, not only those who have given themselves over to such acts stand condemned, but those who go along with them (Romans 1:26-27, 32). Are we going to let the parade go on unchallenged to the point that America makes Sodom look Puritan? With love for every soul, including those who have given themselves over to Satan, let us "be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace" (Acts 18:9).

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